After second win of season, North Carolina football has a story left to write

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The Tar Heels didn’t find a good way to start their story this season, but they are still hoping to find a good way to end it.

“We can finish this thing however we want to finish it,” defensive coordinator John Papuchis said at practice Tuesday. “No player in that locker room, no coach is completely going to be pleased with the end result of the year. I mean no one is. But you could make the best of the situation you're in and finish strong."

And the feeling at practice was more positive than it has been in weeks.

Three weeks ago, the Tar Heels slipped to 1-8 as they gave away a glorious end of game opportunity against Miami. In some ways, the loss has aged well. The College Football Playoff Committee ranked Miami No. 3 in the nation Tuesday night. This came after a decisive win against then-No. 13 Virginia Tech and a throttling of then-No. 3 Notre Dame in back to back weeks. The week before that, they barely escaped Chapel Hill with a win.

The Tar Heels put together perhaps their most meaningful performance of the season on Thursday. Facing Pittsburgh on the road in an ACC matchup, UNC held strong at the end of the game to pull off their second win of the season. From start to finish, it was a refreshingly complete performance for the team.

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“You can see in this game, we started faster and guys were believing,” offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic said. “And even when we got behind, you didn't see that, ‘shit here we go again,’ and all that type of stuff. It was like, ‘here, let's do this.’”

The offense was helped by the performance of redshirt sophomore quarterback Nathan Elliott, who has been thrust into the starting position after injuries to early-season starters Chazz Surratt and Brandon Harris.

Elliott completed 20 of his 31 attempts for 235 yards and two touchdowns, without a single fumble or interception. His appearance on the field has coincided with some of UNC’s best play of the season.

“Everything I've worked for, I've put in all of this work my whole life and to finally see it paying off and being able to play the game, it's a great feeling,” Elliott said.

Most of North Carolina’s preseason goals are out the window at this point. But on Tuesday, Elliott emphasized the old football cliché of “going 1-0” every week. For the first time since a Sept. 16 win over Old Dominion, the Tar Heels entered the locker room having done just that.

“It was huge,” Elliott said. “Everyone was so happy. You wouldn't have thought we were a 2-8 team if you walked in the locker room after that win. How tough are these guys? Always got a positive attitude, always working hard. That was a great victory for us to continue to build on in November.”

After their performances against Miami and Pittsburgh, there are still signs of life for UNC. The Tar Heels have two games remaining this season: a senior night game against Western Carolina, and the season-ender in Raleigh against No. 19 NC State.

For a story that seemed void of hope just a few weeks ago, the tone from players and coaches suggests that North Carolina may have a better ending yet to write.